History Talks...

Before getting in to tales from our history conference this weekend, I have to tell you all about our night the other night. As part of our newsroom management class we were required to go on a circulation run delivering newspapers around town on Wednesday night (Thursday morning).

I was assigned to an area that covered both mansions and really dilapidated trailer parks. It was... interesting.

Our run began at 3 a.m. I rode with a young guy named Zach Maddox (great name!). I was fortunate, because he usually finishes his run in under 2 hours. The rest of the class ended up being out for 2.5-3 hours. Yuck! The bad news -- the reason he does his run so quickly is he drives really fast.

Now, I NEVER get car sick, but I was seriously turning green. I totally do not envy what these people do. They get paid next to nothing, and they work 365 days a year without any kind of benefits or insurance from the newspaper.

Here's what the end of my paper run looked like:


So, Jeremy and I journeyed to Panama City this weekend, because we were both chosen to present our papers at the American Journalism Historians' Association's Southeast Symposium.

Here's Jeremy with our professor, Dr. Julie Williams, who we really enjoy. She is so funny and wild; a really great teacher.


The symposium began Saturday morning, with Jeremy the first to present. His paper on a famous baseball play from the 1908 World Series race, known as "Merkle's Boner," impressed everyone -- especially the male professors.


After a lunch break, all of Dr. Williams' students took a picture with her. Sandra, on the left, can from Anniston to support us. The blonde in the front and guy in the back were undergraduates from Samford University, who have Dr. Williams for media history there. And to the right, Anne, from our class, also presented her paper at the conference.


After lunch, it was my turn to present my paper contrasting the deaths of two famous Hollywood actresses, Thelma Todd (1935) and Anna Nicole Smith (2007) and how they were portrayed in the media. One of the professors there suggested I submit my paper to the national AJHA conference, being held in Seattle in October. Wish me luck! I've never been to Seattle!


And this was the view we did not get to enjoy while we were in the conference all day. No matter, though. It was about 50 degrees out!


All in all, it was a great experience -- one I hope to replicate many more times in the future.